Animal Fun

Curtin University

Animal Fun is designed to promote the motor skills and social skills of young children.

Overview

Alignment with Be You Domains

Early Support

Alignment with Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

Children are confident and involved learners
Children have a strong sense of identity
Children have a strong sense of wellbeing

Alignment with Australian Curriculum

Health and PE

Target audience

Early learning
Primary school

Target groups

Individual
Small group
Whole class

Aims

Animal Fun is designed to promote the motor skills and social skills of young children. Based on imitating animal movements, activities have been designed by physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists to allow children to develop their skills in a fun and engaging way.

Program theory

The program uses the environmental stress hypothesis (ESH) to understand the relationship between poor movement skills and the associated increased risk for mental health issues and conditions.

Topics

Gross motor skill development: trunk, upper and lower limbs, locomotion, sequencing, balance and core strength. Fine motor skills development: building upper limb strength, fine motor control, motor planning, pre-writing, pre-cutting skills. Social and emotional wellbeing: self-regulation skills, using laughter to relieve stress, identification of various emotions and recognising these in facial expression and body language.

Cost

One complete pack of resources is $315, excluding GST. The pack includes a teacher manual, a set of 97 activity flashcards, an Animal Fun@Home book, a How Are You Feeling Today? pack of emotion cards and the Animal Fun: Scope and Sequence book. Items in the complete pack are also available for purchase separately in Animal Fun's online shop: https://animalfun.com.au/shop

Program structure

There are 9 modules in the program, designed to be flexible and embedded into the child's everyday routines and rituals. Structured sessions can be programmed into the daily curriculum.

Instructor

Educator

Instructor training

A 1.5-hour interactive workshop is available at an additional cost to support educators to implement the program. Resources are additional to the cost of participating in the workshop but can be viewed during the workshop.

Supporting resources or materials available with program

Manual
Posters

Other materials

N/A

Ongoing support

Ongoing phone or email support. Follow-up visits are included in some of the larger program packages or schools can ask for follow-up visits on an ad hoc basis.

Parent involvement

Attend information sessions
Written information provided to parents

Origin of program

Australia

Curtin University

Program authors

Emeritus Professor Jan Piek, Professor Leon Straker, Dr Lynn Jensen, Professor Tanya Packer, Dr Alma Dender, Associate Professor Clare Roberts, Associate Professor Rosanna Rooney, Sue McLaren

: 7 St Helena Way,Iluka WA 6028 Australia

: +61 409 942 182

: sue@animalfun.com.au

: Visit website

Ratings

4/4 Evidence

4/4 Implementation

Summary of evidence factors

This is a summary of the evaluation or research study characteristics that contribute to the program’s evidence rating.

Positive impact on at least one outcome for children and/or young people?	Yes
Link between program description and theory of change	Comprehensive
Study design	Randomised control trial
Independence	Semi

Summary of implementation factors

This is a summary of the program’s characteristics that contribute to its implementation rating.

Feedback sought from participants	Yes
Feedback sought from instructors	Yes
Groups program is not suitable for	Not assessed
Training provided during study	Face to face, all instructors, in person
Ongoing instructor support provided during study	Yes

Context

This is a summary of the context in which the evidence for the program was established.

Study Participants	Early learning
Country of Study/s	Australia
Location of Study/s in Australia	WA
Evaluation of program in culturally and linguistically diverse populations	Yes
Evaluation of program in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people	Yes
Evaluation of program in low socioeconomic groups	Yes
Developmental based adaptations to program design and delivery	Yes
Evaluation of program in children and young people with disability and/or learning difference	Yes

Last updated: 31 May 2023